Understanding development finance

We monitor and publish data from more than 40 OECD and non-OECD countries on official development assistance (ODA) and other development finance to developing countries. This helps identify whether money is being allocated according to need.

Aid architecture

Aid statistics

Multilateral's share of ODA declines

ODA provided by DAC countries to multilateral organisations, such as UN agencies, is shrinking according to our report, Multilateral Aid 2010. Moreover, around 80% of this aid is focused on six main groups of multilaterals.

Aid to developing countries falls because of global recession

Major donors’ aid to developing countries fell by nearly 3% in 2011, breaking a long trend of annual increases. Disregarding years of exceptional debt relief, this was the first drop since 1997. Continuing tight budgets in OECD countries will put pressure on aid levels in coming years.

Find out more about our work

Aid architecture

The complex and often uncoordinated collection of players in the development sector has led to costly problems for low-income countries: unpredictable support, fragmented resources and unbalanced concentrations of development finance.

Aid loses up to 25% of its value when its flow is not well planned or predictable, and an additional 10% through fragmentation - wasting up to USD 35 billion of aid each year. We help donors and recipients understand where aid is expected and most needed so that they can plan and co-ordinate to ensure that it works better.

Aid statistics

In 2011, members of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD provided USD 133.5 billion of net official development assistance (ODA), representing 0.31 per cent of their combined gross national income (GNI).

This was a -2.7 % drop in real terms compared to 2010, the year it reached its peak. This decrease reflects fiscal constraints in several DAC countries which have affected their ODA budgets. Find out more here.

Our Aid Statistics team compiles the definitive international data on aid flows from reporting by the DAC's 24 members, and by non-OECD countries and multilateral organisations.

How much ODA has your country or region provided or received? Click here to find out.